Only Sandbags, Sweat Hold Back the River

WEST QUINCY, Mo. -- Shannon Haerr has spent the past four days hauling sandbags up the 30-foot-high mound of dirt that separates his home and farm from the surging Mississippi River.

The river is expected to crest as early as Thursday. Whether Mr. Haerr's wheat and soybeans and thousands of other acres of farmland wind up underwater will have plenty to do with how many bags he and his neighbors can stack onto the levee between now and then.